Gravity
by ADD-icted2FF
Summary: The Nature Boy's final match was hard on everyone - especially his youngest daughter, who had been working her way through the ranks for 2 years. Now she must find a way to continue without him being around. Batista/OFC in later chapters.


Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything WWE related, and I make no money from this story. Maggie is a fictional character I've created. All descriptions of people, places, matches, or pretty much anything else belong to their respective owners.

Rating: T may go to M in later chapters

Based on events during/after Wrestlemania 24.

Chapter 1

"Maggie?"

The young woman who was being called looked up from beneath her milk chocolate colored hair, which had fallen forward as she sat in a distant hallway, crying. She'd just witnessed the biggest moment in professional wrestling's recent history – the end of a legend. That legend happened to be her father. She knew she should be out with everyone else in the back – but that was where she had come from twenty minutes ago. After the match, he'd come over and hugged each of them, tearful, hurting in more ways than he'd ever fully admit, she'd left her seat and came back stage. Tons of people were waiting around, almost everyone was crying.

She had managed to stifle her own tears for a short while, standing beside her father, the Nature Boy, strong and supportive. Dave Batista had come and hugged his former mentor, and while that happened, she'd caught the glance of the man who had just ended her father's career. Shawn stood across the way, looking miserable, guilty as sin, and the sadness in his eyes was her undoing. Maggie had turned and excused herself, wandering until she found a solitary spot where she could let her guard down.

Seeing Dave looking down at her, concerned, made her feel weak and ashamed. She brushed away the salty streams on her cheeks and took a breath. "What's up, Dave?"

He saw right through her attempt at a bright tone of voice. "You've been gone for a while. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Yeah, sure, I'm fine." She lied, staring at the wall ahead of her.

Dave sat beside her without asking permission and folded his arms over his knees. She didn't protest. "I know how hard this is for you..." he began. She continued to look at some invisible dot. "Because it's damned hard for me, and you're his blood." Maggie's gaze faltered, sliding to the floor. She swallowed. He went on, "You know you can come to me if you need someone to talk to." _Or a shoulder to cry on..._

Her throat worked, uncertain whether she was going to say something or simply start crying again. No sound came out, and she closed her eyes to try to stop the tears that sprang up again. One made its way down her cheek anyway. Dave gently touched her shoulder, and she pulled away. "I just want to be alone right now." she whispered, her breath catching after the last word.

He watched her for a moment longer, her pain reflected in his dark eyes, but she didn't see it. Standing, he paused to look down at her again. "Don't let this thing consume you. I mean it, Mags, when you're ready to talk, I'll be here for you. I'm in room 436 at the hotel."

She nodded that she'd heard him, and he reluctantly left her there after a final glance back. The kid was gonna have a hell of a time adjusting to this, he thought as he walked away. He remembered how excited she'd been when she was given the opportunity to join the company; how Ric had been against it, but eventually relented, provided that he was assigned as her manager to ensure that she didn't get taken advantage of. Maggie and her father had a very close relationship, something Dave himself had envied at first.

Once he'd gotten to know her, he'd also become close to her, and they routinely kept each other company out on the town, in hotel bars and nightclubs alike. They joked and drank and played around as siblings would, watched movies in each others' rooms and would occasionally have spontaneous, playful sparring matches anywhere the spirit struck either of them. Of course, he would never legitimately hurt her, and more often than not he let her get a few sturdy shots in on him before he'd find a way to pin her and tickle her until she was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. Seeing her like this, shutting him out, was as painful as what he'd just watched from the monitors.

"Did you find her?" Glen asked when Dave returned to the conference room where everyone was gathered.

"Yeah." Dave cast a look over at Ric, who was talking with a group of his colleagues. "She's taking it pretty hard."

"I can imagine." Glen replied. "Think she'll be okay?"

Dave shrugged. "She's a tough girl. In time, it'll be easier for her." He took a sip of his drink, one of the refreshments provided by catering. "I just hope she sees that."

Glen nodded in agreement. "It'd be a damned shame if she doesn't. She's got her dad's talent for working a crowd."

... ...

Shawn had seen Dave come back from looking for Maggie, and by the look on his face, he'd found her. Once it looked like he wouldn't be missed for a few minutes, he slipped out of the conference room and sought out the youngest of the Fliehr family. He found her in the same place Dave had left her, though her tears had subsided again. She looked up when she heard him coming.

"Did Dave send you after me?"

Michaels' brow furrowed for a moment. "No. I was looking for you so that I could apologize."

Maggie looked down. "Don't do that. We both know this is how he wanted it to be."

"Maybe, but it's not how I wanted it to be. It killed me to do this." He admitted, leaning against the wall.

She looked up at him, realizing for the first time how exhausted he looked. "You should go to the hotel and get some rest."

"I will. Eventually." He paused, then sighed. "I'm really sorry, Maggie."

Her throat ached. She was so tired of crying. "I know you are, Shawn."

"Your dad's gonna start to wonder where you are."

"Yeah." she nodded, standing. Her eyes went to his, and she leaned in to give him a hug. "You did what he asked you to do. Thank you for giving him a great final match." she said.

He replied by nodding mutely, struggling with his own emotions.

Again she nodded, understanding. With her dad no longer there, she was alone, no matter what any of them said. She'd been brought in as Ric Flair's daughter, fought to prove herself as an athlete, but she always knew that most, if not all, of her fellow wrestlers would never see past her father's name. She would always be Ric Flair's daughter, no matter how hard she pushed herself. How could she possibly live up to the burden that came with it if he wasn't there with her?

...

Maggie had avoided the hotel until the last possible moment, skirted past the bar where she knew the guys would all be, and made her way up to her room – the room she and her dad would have shared if he wasn't already on his way back to North Carolina, and sat down on the bed. She knew she needed to sleep, she was worn out. But her mind was still racing, going over her father's final match over and over; the look on his face when the end was near had been almost more than she could bear. He'd pushed himself so far that he began to break kayfabe before it was over, tears streaming down his face. Shawn, fighting with his own demons, hesitating. Then his words before delivering the final kick... Maggie shook her head to clear the thought away.

She changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, remembering the hit to the face her dad took at the start of the match, saw the look of surprise on both wrestlers' faces when it happened. _First blood, brother..._ Back to Shawn an eternity later, _I'm sorry – I love you. _Tears in the eyes of every person she saw through her own watery vision. Dave in the hall, sounding so incredibly lost... The echo of her own sobs in the empty hallway... Suddenly her room seemed too close, too quiet. She picked up her key-card and closed the door behind her, padding down the hallway.

What number had Dave said earlier? 436? Hoping she had it right and terrified that she was wrong, she knocked on the door. For a moment there was no answer, but there was a shuffling sound from within, a dull thump, and a muttered curse. She was about to back away when the door opened.

"I'm really sorry, I must've-" Her voice broke off when she realized that she did in fact have the right room. Dave was looking down at her through bleary eyes, blinking in the light of the hallway.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice was sleepy.

"Can't sleep." she said, realizing she'd woken him up. "I didn't think you'd already be in bed. I'll just go back-"

"Come on in." he cut her off, moving back so that she could enter the room.

Maggie walked past him. "What was that bump I heard?"

"Desk chair." He responded, "It's in a bad spot."

She smiled in spite of herself, seeing that it was just in front of the small sofa. "Yeah, how dare they put that thing right in front of the desk." He made a noise that was either a short laugh or a yawn, she wasn't sure. "You sure you don't mind me being here?"

"I meant what I said earlier – even if it means being woken up at," he looked at the clock, "three in the morning." He sat down on the bed. "So what's up?"

"Nothing." She replied automatically, then, "Just – I can't stop thinking about tonight. And it's the first time in two years that I've had a hotel room to myself, and... Well, it just feels...empty." she lowered her head at the last part, feeling foolish.

"You can stay here." He said it in such a way that she felt like she needed to clarify.

"I wasn't really asking-"

"You don't need to ask. If you don't want to sleep in your room tonight, you can stay here. Take the bed, I'll take the couch, or we can share the bed – whichever you prefer."

Maggie's eyes filled with unwanted tears again. She brushed them away hastily. "Thank you."

"Come here..."

She did as he asked, allowing him to pull her down into his lap to hold her. Sighing heavily, she tucked her head into the crook of his neck. Dave rested his cheek against her hair with a sigh of his own and they sat like that for several minutes, each drawing comfort from the other.

"You still awake?" she asked after he'd been still a while. His response was a slight nod and an unconvincing affirmative noise. "We can share the bed – there's no reason for you to be uncomfortable on that tiny sofa."

"Good. I wasn't really looking forward to it." He joked lightly. He made no sign that he was going to move.

Maggie smirked. "You have to let go so that you can lay down."

In response, he laid back, dragging her with him and scooting sideways while still holding on to her. She giggled and pulled at the blankets before pulling out of his grasp and climbing beneath them. With her head nestled into the pillow, and the knowledge that Dave was right there, she quickly headed toward sleep.


End file.
